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The Space Development Agency is fielding a new proliferated satellite constellation in low Earth orbit.
AURORA, Colorado–Two U.S. Space Force procurement agencies have enough work between the two of them to stay separate entities, Space Systems Command (SSC) Commander Lt. Gen. Philip Garrant said March 3.
Garrant served as acting director of the Space Development Agency (SDA) beginning Jan. 16, when the agency’s Director Derek Tournear was placed on administrative leave. He stepped away Feb. 5, when Air Force Rapid Capabilities Office Deputy Director William Blauser took over the acting role.
Both organizations deserve full-time leadership, Garrant told reporters at the Air and Space Forces Association’s Warfare Symposium here.
“I think the Space Development Agency will continue to be an incredibly important part of the Space Force, independent and completely separate from SSC,” he said.
SSC is the U.S. Space Force field command that acquires and delivers warfighting capabilities, emerging out of Space and Missile Systems Command in Los Angeles when the Space Force was stood up as a separate service in 2019.
Meanwhile, SDA was established in 2019 to stand up a new proliferated architecture of small satellites in low Earth orbit, with on-orbit capability refreshes taking place in two-year cycles, to perform multiple functions including 24/7 data transport and missile tracking. It has launched 27 satellites under the demonstration-focused Tranche 0 effort, with plans to launch more than 150 additional satellites this year to form the operational Tranche 1 layer.
The agency has three stated purposes, Garrant noted: to be a disruptor in space acquisition, to support a nascent industrial base, and to deliver warfighting capability. He advocated for SDA’s success in all three areas, crediting them for demonstrating “tremendous capability on orbit.”
SDA is involved in a lawsuit filed by Viasat in September 2024, alleging several of its competitors for the agency’s Tranche 2 Transport Layer Gamma program were unfairly assisted in the bid process.
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